Burial couch



Filed March 2, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l IAIVENTOR. William J. Alfie/ ag ZQiZ M Aig W. J. CHER RY Nov. 22, 1955 BURIAL COUCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 2, 1953 5 A m% w W W BURIAL COUCH William J. Cherry, Chicago, Ill., assignor of one-half to Bridgit E. McGrath, Chicago, ill.

a Application March 2, 1953, Serial No. 339,824

9 Claims. 01. 27-14 the same to eternity.

Attempting to alleviate or cushion the, shock under such circumstances by beautifying or in some way adorning the casket has not solved the basic problem of rendering the transition in as natural a manner as possible and with a minimum departure from normal and usual custom. The rather abrupt and seemingly harsh practice of transferring the deceased from the customary and familiar surroundings of, for example, the sick bed to a box oftentimes proved unbearable to the friends and membersof the family of the deceased. This was especially true when consideration was given to the psychological condition of the individuals who had but recently been subjected to witnessing and experiencing the mortal illness of a loved one.

It is therefore an important object to afford burial means which will to a large extent overcome the objections set forth hereinabove. An object relating thereto is to provide an interment couch which in appearance is not unlike the bed of the deceased. e Another object is to afford a display couch upon which the corpse may be arranged in natural sleep-like repose.

A further object is to provide a couch with novel sliding coverswhich may be readily moved to operative position thereby affording a protective container.

Still another object is to afford carrying handles which also serve as supports or legs for the couch.

Still a further object is to provide a burial case which may be constructed from any conventional material, particularly material similar to those used in the construction of ordinary beds and couches.

Yet another object is to afiord novel means for lock ing the cover of the burial couch in operative position.

And yet a further object is to provide a burial case of sturdy yet attractive construction but nevertheless capable of relatively inexpensive construction, dependent of course upon the choice of materials utilized.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, arrangement and a combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that various changes in the form, pr'oportion, size and minor details of the structure may United States Patent i 2,724,167 Patented Nov. 22, 1955 be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of my invention, I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment thereof, from an inspection of which, when considered in connection with the following description, my invention, its mode of construction, assembly and operation, and many of its advantages should be readily understood and appreciated.

Referring to the drawings in which the same characters of reference are employed to indicate correspond ing or similar parts throughout the several figures of the drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of a burial couch embodying the principles of invention with a portion of the cover broken away to, enable the illustration of interior details of construction, said couch positioned on display pedestals shown in dot-dash outline;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the plane of line 2--2 in Fig. 1 of the drawings and viewed in the direction indicated;

Fig. 3 is a similar sectional view but showing the couch open with the lids dropped to displaying position;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the couch with the lids opened and with a corpse shown in display position;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the plane of line 55 in Fig. 20f the drawings;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken on the plane of line 6-6 in Fig. l of the drawings;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view similar to Fig. 5 of the drawings and showing a detail of construction; and

Fig. 8 is likewise an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing a detail of construction of the lid roller and runway assembly.

Referring now to the drawings, particularly Figs. 1 and 4 of the drawings, reference numeral 10 indicates generally a burial couch comprising a platform 12 susl pended between a head board member 14 and a foot board member 16, both of which members are of substantially half-circular shape as best noted in, Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings.

Each of the head board and foot board members 14 and 16 have a curved strip, such as 1 8 affixed to the peripheral edge of the boards so that a portion 20 thereof protrudes inwardly at right angles to the plane of the boards 14 and 16. The function of these inwardly protruding portions will be disclosed as the description proceeds. A similar strip such as 22 may be afiixed to the boards 14 and 16 in parallel spaced relationship be low the strip 18 so that a runway such as 24 is provided therebetween on each board, as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 7 of the drawings. The functions of these runways likewise will appear as the description proceeds.

As above described the structure comprises essentially a bed or couch. To adapt the couch for the intended function, a novel cover 26 may be provided. This will now be described in some detail.

The cover 26 comprises a pair of lids 28 and 30 curved in complementary arcuate shape to the curvature of the head and foot boards 14 and 16 and adapted to enclose the entire area between the boards and above the platform 12. Each of these lids 28 and 30 may have affixed at each of their respective upper outer edges rollers such as 32. Each of these rollers may be mounted on the outer end of arms such as 34; each of these arms 34 being pivotally affixed by means of their inner ends as at 36 to the lids 28 and 30 respectively.

The rollers 32 are adapted to move within the runways 24 between the guides 18 and 22. By this means the p lids may be lowered from the operative encasing position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 to the display position shown in Figs. 3 and 4; the downward passage of the lids being arrested when the rollers 32 reach the top of the cover jams 3.8 and 40. The'upward movement is stopped when the two lids are moved into abutting relationship with each other as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings. The pivotal mounting of the rollers 32 permits the lids to accommodate themselves to the arcuate couch. As the lids are rolled up or down, the arms 34 are pivoted outwardly thereby permitting the edges of the lids to clear the outer edges of the head board and foot board members, 14 and 16 respectively.

To better support the couch 10, side leg support members such as 41 and 43 may be provided with leg mouldings such as 48 affixed to the bottoms of said leg supports andextending from the head board 14 to the foot board 16 on both sides of the couch. These mouldings 48 may comprise round tubing and provide also carrying handles for the couch, as at 42, 44 and 46.

For the purpose of locking the lids 28 and in operative encasing position, door catches such as 50 of any efiective design, may be utilized. The platform 12 may be reinforced or supported by bracing strips such as 52, 54 and 56. The materials of construction are capable of wide variation, including such materials as wood, textile, leather and plastic covered wood, glass, rubber, metals (steel, aluminum, bronze and the like), and pressed board. I

In operation the couch may be displayed on a pedestal P with the lids lowered as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings. The body is then arranged on the platform 12 in natural repose position as shown in Fig. 4, so that the same appears to be resting on the couch 10.

When burial is imminent the lids 28 and 30 are raised until they are locked in place by the catch 50. This adapts the couch for interment readiness but eliminates the hitherto inhumane practice of boxing the corpse.

It is believed that my invention, its mode of construction and assembly, and many of its advantages should be readily understood from the foregoing without further description, and it should also be manifest that while a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described for illustrative purposes, the structural details are nevertheless capable of wide variation within the purview of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a burial device of the character described, an

open top and open sided couch-like member, and a cover comprising a plurality of rigid arcuate lids pivotally connected to said couch-like member by means of linkage and rollers, said cover being movable to enclose the top and sides thereof.

I v2. A burial couch comprising a platform suspended between two upright members, each of said upright members comprising walls, a pair of diverging runways formed in each of said walls, and a pair of rigid arcuate lids slideably mounted in said runways and adapted to enclose the area above the platform and between the walls, each of said lids also being mounted to pivot about the upper edge of the same thereby swinging the lid outwardly.

3. The burial couch of claim 2 in which at least one roller is pivotally alfixed to each side of each of the lids, said rollers being movable in said runways.

4. The burial couch of claim 2 in which a plurality of side leg support members are positioned in upright spaced relationship one with the other on both sides of said platform, and leg moldings are aflixed to the lower ends of said leg support members extending between said walls, portions of said leg moldings afiording carrying handles.

5. A burial couch comprising in combination a pair of upright board members spaced one from the other, a platform suspended between said board members and spaced from the bottom thereof, the upper portions of each of said board members being arcuately shaped, a complementarily curved strip affixed to the peripheral edge of each of the board members so that a portion thereof protrudes inwardly, a second curved strip aflixed to the inner surface of each of said board members in spaced relationship with said first mentioned strip, thereby aifording a runway therebetween, a pair of rigid arcuate lids positioned between said board members and adapted to enclose the area between said board members, and pivotally mounted means aflixed to said lids and movable within said runway whereby the lids may be moved in a curved path and simultaneously swung outwardly.

6. The burial couch of claim 5 in which said last mentioned means comprises a plurality of rollers each mounted on the outer end of an arm, the inner end of each of said arms being pivotally connected one to each of the upper corners of said lids whereby the lids may be swung outwardly to permit the edges thereof to clear the edges of the upright board members.

7. The burial couch of claim 5 in which lengths of metal tubing are suspended between said board members, said tubes positioned near the bottom of the couch one on each side of said platform, thereby alfording carrying handles.

8. In a burial couch of the character described comprising a platform suspended between two upright members, said upright members having arcuate-shaped top portions with runways formed in the marginal edges of the inner surfaces thereof; a pair of complementary arcuate-shaped stiff lids and a plurality of rollers each mounted on the outer end of an arm pivotally connected one to each of the upper corner edges of said lids, said rollers being movably mounted in the runways of the upright member and said lids also being pivotally movable outwardly away from the runways.

9. In a burial couch of the character described comprising a platform suspended between two upright members, said upright members having arcuate-shaped top portions with runways formed in the marginal edges of the inner surfaces thereof; a pair of complementary arcuate-shaped stilt lids, a plurality of arms each pivotally connected at one end thereof one to each of the upper corner edges of said lids, a plurality of rollers each rotatably mounted one to each of the free ends of said arms, said rollers being movably mounted in the runways of the upright member and said lids also being pivotally movable outwardly away from the runways.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 198,531 Baur et a1 Dec. 25, 1877 794,646 Sullivan July 11, 1905 1,708,443 'Fifer Apr. '9, 1929 1,906,310 'Borchard May 2, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS 567,483 Germany Jan. 4, 1933 

